While millions of Muslims converge on Mecca, Palestinians in Gaza face a third year of anguish as Israel closes its borders, barring them from performing Hajj — one of the five pillars of Islam.
Hanan al-Hams, 65, was among 3,000 Palestinians in Gaza scheduled to make the pilgrimage in 2024. Her lifelong dream crumbled when the war launched by Israel on 7 October 2024 erupted. “I lost my son, my home is in ruins, and now I cannot make the trip I waited decades for,” said al-Hams, living in a makeshift tent among the rubble in northern Gaza.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs, more than 10,000 residents have been prevented from making the pilgrimage over three years because Israel closed the Rafah crossing with Egypt. At least 71 people who won slots in previous years have been killed in the war before they could perform the rite.
Travel from Gaza is controlled by Israel, even before the war. The partial reopening of the Rafah crossing in February 2025 only allows patients needing medical treatment abroad. All other purposes like pilgrimage, study abroad, or work remain nearly impossible under the Israeli blockade imposed since 2007.
The majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million people now live in tents or destroyed homes. The war launched by Israel has killed at least 72,775 people and drawn global condemnation. The ceasefire in October 2025 ended the war, but Israel continues to occupy more than 60% of Gaza’s territory, violating the agreement.
Adnan Abu Foul and his wife Um Ibrahim wept as they watched pilgrims circle the Kaaba on their phone screens. “The war is over; we hoped to do Hajj, but for three years I have not been able to leave,” Abu Foul said.
A study by the Palestinian Center for Political Research in May 2026 described Israel’s campaign against Gaza’s pilgrimage sector as “structurally economic genocide.” All 78 travel companies in this sector have collapsed; many offices were damaged or destroyed, with capital losses exceeding $4 million and about $2–3 million frozen in foreign agencies. The industry once injected at least $12 million annually into the local economy, affecting more than 1,500 workers.
The report argued that the repeated targeting is deliberate policy and constitutes “collective punishment,” violating the Fourth Geneva Convention as well as freedom of religion and movement. Due to the blockade, the Hajj quota of about 3,000 people is filled by Palestinians with Gaza IDs living in Egypt and other countries, while thousands of slots are temporarily transferred to the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
“We cannot organize the pilgrimage season because there is no guarantee the crossing will open,” said Rami Abu Staitah, General Director of Hajj and Umrah at the Ministry of Waqf. The ministry has called on the international community, Saudi Arabia and Egypt to intervene, separating religious pilgrimage from political calculations.
